A Hamish Rutherford half-century and 45 from Billy Godleman was not enough to stop Derbyshire being narrowly defeated by Yorkshire in a gripping Royal London One-Day Cup fixture at The 3aaa County Ground.
In a game disrupted by rain, Yorkshire posted 239-6 from their reduced innings of 42 overs despite Mark Footitt and Shiv Thakor returning 2-45 and 2-57 respectively.
More rain over Derby meant that the Falcons target was revised to 197 from 29 and that proved slightly too much as they fell seven runs short of victory despite Rutherford’s innings and a late onslaught by Tom Poynton (20 not out).
Derbyshire opening bowlers Footitt and Ben Cotton bowled tightly in their first spells to restrict Yorkshire to just 31-0 after the shortened powerplay of nine overs.
The pressure created during the powerplay told during the next over as Alex Lees chipped Thakor to Cotton at mid-on for a simple catch on 14.
World Cup winner Glenn Maxwell was in at three for the visitors but could only make 16 before hitting Alex Hughes straight to Footitt at deep mid-wicket.
Yorkshire Captain Andrew Gale had opened for his side and managed to score 36 before he was adjudged lbw to the bowling of Footitt as the Vikings reached the midway point of their innings on 91-3.
Footitt accounted for the next wicke as well after the top edge of Jack Leaning sailed down to List A debutant Matt Critchley at fine-leg to take a good catch with Leaning having played well for his 42.
Thakor also had his second wicket soon after when former England Test all-rounder Tim Bresnan (16) hit a low full toss out to Alex Hughes at long-on who held on to a stunning catch diving forward.
Having been recently dropped from the England Ashes squad, Gary Ballance reminded the selectors of his significant talents by scoring 69 before top-edging Cotton to wicketkeeper Tom Poynton with two overs remaining.
#MatchAction: @footitt_mark finished with figures of 2-45 from his nine overs #DERvYOR #P2bD pic.twitter.com/hNP1rco4Eh
— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) July 27, 2015
Liam Plunkett finished the innings brightly for Yorkshire, ending unbeaten on 17 to boost their score to 239-6 from 42 overs. A rain delay during the interval meant that Derbyshire’s target was revised from 240 inside 42 overs to 197 from 29 overs due to the Duckworth/Lewis system.
Billy Godleman and Wes Durston opened for the Falcons and the former scored four sumptuous boundaries inside the first two overs to start well but his partner fell for one in the third.
Godleman and Wayne Madsen put on a crucial 49 for the second wicket before Madsen was bowled for 22 and Godleman, having hit eight boundaries for his 45, was caught behind in the following over to leave Derbyshire 74-3.
After Shiv Thakor was run out for 14, Alex Hughes and Hamish Rutherford scored 47 for the fifth wicket to get their side back up above the Duckworth/Lewis par score. But a moment of magic from Maxwell ended the partnership as the Australia international took a stunning one-handed diving catch at backward point to remove Alex Hughes for 14 as the momentum switched again.
Rutherford continued to score well for the Falcons and with help from Poynton – who added a brisk and unbeaten 20 – looked to give his side a chance in the dying overs.
But with 16 runs required for victory, Rutherford fell for 56 from 48 balls off the last ball of the penultimate over. Derbyshire ended their 29 overs on 189-9 to fall just short of victory as Yorkshire claimed victory by seven runs in a thrilling match at Derby.
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Derbyshire are back in Royal London One-Day Cup action at The 3aaa County Ground on Friday 31 July when they face Northamptonshire Steelbacks. Kids go FREE and adults can save £4 on their admission by buying in advance.
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